Photograph Found on a Table
by Alison Stone
Child
caged in crinoline, what do you see
as you stand wide-eyed with your family,
five women tense
in white dresses, the lone
man dapper in black? Who pushed your feet
into hard shoes? Tightened their bright
buckles? Whose hands snapped barrettes
into your wild hair? Silk snaked
around her throat, the bulky teen behind you
leans on a stark wall. You coil, set to
spring, as a stiff-wigged matron
(mother? grandmother?) vises one arm
and grips the other elbow. The man's thick fingers
press down on your shoulder.
You position one hand on each of their laps.
Ready
to push off. What do you see
and where would seeing lead
you, child, if you
let go?
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